Using Flowchart Technique to Improve Students' Understanding on Indefinite and Definite Articles

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of using flowchart technique on improving students’ understanding of English article. The researcher used experimental teaching at SMPN 1 Baktiya Barat, Aceh Utara. Two classes of students participated in this research. One class for experiment and the other for control class. The method was held by tests and treatment. The pre-test was given to the participants at the first meeting. The experiment class received the treatment by using flowchart technique, while control class was not. After the treatment was done, the post-test was administered to both classes to see the effects of using flowchart technique. The data were analyzed using Sudjana’s (2002) statistical formula and table of frequency distribution. The result showed that the value of calculation of t-test is higher than that of the t-table. The t-test result is 16.35 > value of t-table 2.019. This means that there was a significant difference between students’ understanding of English article taught using flowchart technique and not using it. In line with this, the alternative hypothesis (Ha) was accepted and zero hypothesis (H0) was rejected. The results of statistical analysis show that the use of flowcharts in the classroom can improve the learning process of students towards the material taught, so that the use of flowchart techniques is considered successful. Additionally, the findings imply that a more appropriate technique to teach grammar is needed, especially in English article.